The invention relates to a degasifier for separating gas or vapor from gas/liquid or vapor/liquid flows in pipes. Gas/liquid and vapor/liquid flows occur quite frequently in technical applications. In some cases, it is of great advantage to substantially reduce the gas or vapor content. One example thereof is the piping of crude oil. In this case, the piped oil usually has an undesired content of natural gas, which substantially increases the pipeline pressure losses and thereby the power needed to pump the oil. In addition, the pipelines may experience mechanical loads (flow surges) capable of causing failure.
Degasifiers may further be utilized in connection with boilers. During the boiling of liquids, the heat transfer is much better with liquids of low vapor content (that is, with relatively few bubbles) than with liquids of high vapor content wherein the vapor may form an annular envelope along the pipes. By installing a degasifier to lower the vapor content, the necessary heating surface and pumping power can be reduced and consequently the efficiency of the apparatus can be increased.
Conventional gas/liquid separators, such as cyclones and containers with a large surface area, etc., require large volumes and as a result, they are very expensive and are rarely used for the given purposes.
The object of the invention is to separate gases from gas/liquid flows using a degasifier having as little volume as possible and creating as small a pressure drop as possible.